Sharks up early, fall late at Episcopal

Ponte Vedra falls to Eagles, 31-14

NICK ZACCARDISpecial to The Record

Published Saturday, September 12, 2009

JACKSONVILLE -- Ponte Vedra lost a game and a quarterback Friday night.

The Sharks fell, 31-14, at Episcopal after leading by seven at the half. Senior quarterback Clint Cronin suffered an upper-body injury late in the third quarter, likely while getting sacked on his final play of the night.

"He fell on his elbow," said Ponte Vedra coach Mike Loyd, who didn't want to speculate on the specific injury or a possible timeframe of being out. "That's part of football. He's not a big 200-pound kid."

With the Sharks up 14-7, Cronin was taken down by his non-throwing arm on a third-down sack. Backup Casey Weeks played the rest of the way and was ineffective, while Episcopal scored three touchdowns and a field goal in the final 13 minutes, running away.

"It changed our whole makeup," Loyd said of switching from Cronin to Weeks. "You lose your senior quarterback, and you do the best you can. (Weeks) is a different type of kid. He's a bootleg, option-type guy."

Loyd believed Cronin left the stadium early to get X-rays taken. Cronin sat out the final half of last season with a sternum injury, which could have been aggravated.

Cronin missed Episcopal's spectacular finish.

Beginning with a 35-yard field goal with 5:41 left in the game, Episcopal scored on three straight possessions to take the lead and put it out of reach.

The field goal gave the Eagles a 17-14 edge. Episcopal made it a 10-point margin on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Max Reber to Josh McCombs. The final dagger was a three-yard plunge from Chandler Scantling, who led all rushers with 82 yards and two touchdowns.